Gravity FallsGuardians of the Galaxy: A Not So Exciting Summer
by Topaz88
Summary: Dipper and Mabel return to Gravity Falls for the Summer of 2013. After "Weirdmaggedon" and everything else that happened in the summer previous, Dipper thinks that this summer may not be as "exciting". He may be wrong. Note: I have not seen the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, only the cartoon, but that was not a choice of categories, so...yeah.
1. Chapter 1

Mountains rolled past out the window. The sky was blue, but in the back of thirteen-year old Dipper Pines' mind, he could see it as a firey red color…

"Yo, Broseph, you in there? Hell-o-o! Earth to Dipper !"

Dipper blinked and turned to his twin sister, who was bouncing excitedly in the seat next to him. The sunlight glinted off her braces.

"Yeah, I'm here, Mabel." He said with a grin. "Gee, you would think you were excited or something."

Mabel's Crayola-crayon brown eyes had more than their usual spark in them—it was more like a fireworks display. "We're actually going to spend another summer in Gravity Falls! We'll see our friends again! It's going to be so awesome!"

Dipper tried smiling, but it wasn't enough to fool his sister.

"Look, Dipping sauce, just because there won't be any big mysteries to solve this summer, it doesn't mean you can't have a good time. We'll see Soos and Wendy and everybody, it'll be great! "

Dipper sighed. "I know. It's just—"

The summer before last had been—well, epic. They'd discovered all of the strange creatures of Gravity Falls, battled Gideon, met government agents, found out that their great uncle was trying to repair a trans-dimensional portal in the basement, then found out that said portal had been built by their great uncle's twin brother, and finally had battled a maniacal dream demon that had tried to take over the world.

"I know." Mabel said. "After all of the crazy stuff that happened last summer, you think that this summer's going to be _boring_. Well, you thought last summer was going to be boring too until you found Grunkle Ford's journal in the forest. "

"Yeah," Dipper said sadly, remembering that one of the events of the summer before hand was the destruction of those journals. "—but this year there's no journal to find. Besides, Great Uncle Ford and Grunkle Stan are sailing around the world, so we won't even see them. "

Mabel sighed. "Aw, Dip—come on. If you think this summer is—"—she crooked the first two fingers on both hands like quotation marks, '-not going to be as good' as last summer', then it won't be. You can't think like that. Let's make this summer great, too. It dosen't have to have fake child psychics or secrets in the basement or dream demons. "

Dipper couldn't help but grin as he saw the water tower with the name _Gravity Falls_ on it (along with a spray painted graffiti "explosion" that looked more like a giant muffin). "Yeah, you're right, Mabel. As exciting as last summer was, there's a lot of it I sure wouldn't want to relive. As a matter of fact it will be nice not to have to deal with Bill Cipher's nonsense all summer. It'll be nice and peaceful, and we can just enjoy ourselves. "

He looked down at the backpack with his belongings in it that was squeezed between the seat in front of him and his feet. He also noted that his feet nearly touched the floor, unlike last year. Over the past year, he had actually gained over a millimeter in height than Mabel.

"Next stop, Mystery Shack!" called the bus driver.

Both of the twins shared large grins, stood and picked up their backpacks.

"I wonder how Soos' abuelita likes living at the Shack." Dipper thought aloud as the bus came to a stop.

"Let's go find out!" Mabel said, running down the aisle to the door of the bus before it had come to a complete halt.

The twins stepped off the bus, and it pulled away. For a moment, they both stood looking up and the "Mystery Shack" sign on the roof. Both of them grinned, seeing the "S" had fallen off the sign yet again.

"Where is everybody?" Mabel wondered aloud, looking around at the empty parking spaces.

"I don't know, " Dipper answered, "I would have thought someone would meet us out here." His heart was pounding, though he wouldn't have admitted it to Mabel. What was going on?

"Maybe—maybe Soos is re-designing the Shack or something? " Mabel said hopefully as the two of them headed for the door of the gift shop.

Both of their faces paled when they reached the door, and there was a closed sign hanging in the window.

"Wh-what's going on, Dip? " Mabel asked, obviously concerned.

"I don't know, Mabel, but let's try the house. "

The two went around the corner to where the front door of their Grunkle Stan and Ford's/now their friend Soos' house was. Dipper put his arm out to stop Mabel when he saw that the door was slightly ajar.

"Stay behind me." Dipper whispered. Mabel nodded, and Dipper heard the zipper on her backpack. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that Mabel had gotten out her grappling hook.

"Mabel, I can't believe you brought that thing!" Dipper said in a loud whisper.

"What? At the very least I could conk a burglar over the head with it or something." his sister whispered back.

Dipper rolled his eyes and sighed deeply, then resumed heading for the partially open door.

The twins went up on the porch, then Dipper looked at Mabel and put his finger to his lips. Holding up his hand, he counted by holding up one finger at a time:

One – two – three….

Dipper pushed open the door with his shoulder, and Mabel came barreling in beside him, brandishing her grappling hook.

"Surprise! Welcome back ! "


	2. Chapter 2

Dipper and Mabel both stood there, blinking. It seemed as though every resident of Gravity Falls had crammed themselves into the living room.

"Dudes! You're here!"

The next thing the twins knew, they had both been picked up off of the ground and had their faces squashed into the large body of Jesus "Soos" Ramirez, the former handyman/now current owner of the Mystery Shack.

"Soos, I know you're excited, but put them down, already. "came a familiar voice.

"Oh, yeah—sorry, dudes." Soos said, putting the twins down.

Both Dipper and Mabel drew deep breaths. "Hey, Soos! How have things been?" Dipper asked, looking up at his friend.

"Pretty good, dude, pretty good."

Mabel looked up to see the person who had told Soos to put them down. "Melody!"

Dipper looked up to see the young lady they'd met at the mall when they were trying to get Soos a date the summer before—and who had witnessed/helped them fight an obsessed computer program from a dating computer game.

"Hi, guys." Melody said with a smile that accentuated her full cheeks.

"I thought you moved back to Portland!" Mabel said, hugging Melody's leg.

"I did, but things weren't as great as I thought they'd be, and then when Soos and I were video chatting and he told me Mr. Pines had given him the Mystery Shack, well, I had to come back here and help. "

"Mabel!"

"Hey, girl!"

Both Dipper and Mabel looked to see two girls: one a stocky-built girl with her hair in ponytails and whose gravelly voice had called out, "Mabel!" and the other a smaller Asian girl with glasses and long dark hair.

Mabel's face lit up. "Grenda! Candy!"

Dipper watched his sister run over to her friends and smiled, albeit a bit sadly. Mabel had always been better at making friends than he had, and the summer before he hadn't made any good friends his age.

"Well, well, if it isn't the deserter. "

Dipper turned around. A lanky girl in a green flannel shirt and jeans wearing a blue and white cap with a blue pine tree covering her long red hair smiled down at him.

"Wendy!"

He unzipped his backpack and pulled out the bomber hat that he had exchanged with Wendy the summer before.

The sixteen-year old smiled. "Hey, you kept it."

Dipper could feel himself blushing. "Of—of course."

Wendy took the pine tree hat off and placed it on Dipper's head, then took the bomber hat back and placed it on her own. "There. We won't need things to remember each other by when we're in the same place. "

Dipper smiled. The summer before he had had a huge crush on Wendy, but had finally had to convince himself that it could never be.

"Hey, Wen- _dy_!"

Wendy looked over her shoulder at a group of teenagers at the door. "Just a sec, Lee!"

She got on her knee and pointed to an older gentleman in a suit sitting alone by the wall. "Dip, there's someone who'd really like to talk to you."

Dipper blinked. "Wendy, do I know—"

"Later, dude. Glad to have you back. "

Wendy ran to the door to join her friends.

For a moment, Dipper looked in the direction she'd gone, then back to the older gentleman she'd pointed out. Sighing, he made his way over.

As he came closer, Dipper took in the man's features. He was clean shaven, with thinning white hair and spectacles perched on his nose. He looked kind of familiar, but…

"Um, excuse me, sir—do I know—"

The man turned and looked at him, and Dipper saw his gentle blue eyes. There wasn't the crazy "spark" that used to be in them, but…

"Old Man McGucket?"

"Hey, there, son—how've you been? "

"I—I—you—" Dipper was amazed. Even though he, his sister, Wendy and Soos had helped the "local kook" known to townsfolk as "Old Man McGucket" begin to get his self-erased memory back the summer before, the boy couldn't believe the transformation. The man before him had been living in a shack in the local junkyard, usually wearing nothing but a pair of overalls and a hat that he'd stolen off of a scarecrow.

The old gentleman patted the seat beside him. "Come over and set a spell son—if'n you don't mind. "

"N-not at all, sir. " Dipper found himself saying, hurrying over and sitting down next to him.

"So you've had a good year?"

"Yes, sir. It was hard going back to – well, kind of boring life back home – but things've been good. How are _you_? Great Uncle Ford sent me a copy of the newspaper article that said you'd made millions selling patents to the U.S. government!"

McGucket chuckled. "Eh, it's just money, son. I do have that nice Northwest house to live in, now—it's a sight better than the junkyard. Better 'n' the house, though, is that my son lives with me, now. "

Dipper smiled. After losing his mind, his memory, his wife, and for a time a relationship with his son, McGucket deserved some happiness. "So, sir—"

"Eh, enough of that, son." McGucket said, waving a hand. "I don't deserve t' have anyone call me 'sir'. "

Dipper looked into his lap, then back up at the elderly man. "You went to school with Grunkle Ford, right? He said you were brilliant—you have a doctorate, don't you? "

"Yes, son-" McGucket said, blushing. "—a couple. Certainly not as many as your great uncle."

Dipper grinned, realizing that when he'd blurted the question out, he should have thought beforehand if McGucket would have remembered that. He was happy to hear that he evidently did. "Well then, if not 'sir', at the very least Doctor McGucket. "

The old man shook his head. "Well, if it makes you happy, son. "

For a moment, the elderly gentleman's eyes looked as if his mind was somewhere far away. "Before your uncles went on their trip, Stanford and I spent a lot of time together. He helped me remember a lot of things—some things I'd rather not've remembered—but I couldn't be a coward any more. I had to face up to things."

He smiled when he saw the concerned look on Dipper's face. "Aw, don't you worry none, Dipper. We're all made up of things we've done and experiences we've had—good an' bad. We just have to learn to grow from the bad things instead of wallowin' in 'em—or—buildin' crazy memory erasin' guns an' shootin' ourselves in the head with 'em. "


	3. Chapter 3

Dipper smiled. Over the past year, he'd noticed that his own experiences in Gravity Falls had changed him, too.

"So—Doctor McGucket, could I—could I come and visit you at your new house sometime? "

The man smiled gratefully. "Thank you kindly, Dipper, I'd like that. "

The welcome back party went on into the early evening. When everyone had gone, Soos showed the twins up to the attic.

"Wow. It's like coming back home again. "Mabel said, running over to her bed and doing a face plant on the mattress.

"It sure is." Dipper agreed sitting down on his own bed and breathing in deep, as if to absorb being there again.

"You dudes getting comfortable?" Soos asked, from the doorway.

"Sure thing, Soos."

"You bet."

Soos smiled. "It'll sure be nice to have you dudes here again. "

"Melody went home? " Mabel asked when she turned over.

"She's downstairs cleaning up right now, but she'll go home after that." Soos said. "That's one reason why I'm glad you dudes are here. "It's kinda lonely. "

Dipper paused, wondering if he should ask, but then did, cautiously. "Uh—Soos—didn't your abuelita move in with you? "

Soos sighed. "Yeah, but she fell and broke her hip. We decided it was better for her to live in a place where she'd have someone with doctor know-how to take care of her. "

Mabel frowned. "Aw, I'm sorry, Soos."

Soos grinned, but a bit sadly. "Aw, it's okay. You dudes are here now. Maybe one day while you're here you can come with me to visit her. "

"That would be great, Soos." Dipper said, feeling bad for his friend.

"Well, I'll go help Melody. You two dudes must be tired. "

"Thanks, Soos."

"Thank you, Soos! "

After their host had headed back downstairs, Mabel slumped back down on the bed and yawned. "Boy, I am tired. That was a great party."

Dipper chuckled. "Since when does partying wear you out?"

Mabel smiled. "Well, Dip, I usually don't party for hours after riding in a bus for hours. "

Dipper yawned. "Okay, I'll give you that. "

After changing and climbing into bed, Mabel said, "So, Dip, what were you doing at the party? I hardly saw you."

Dipper paused. "Well, I said hello to a couple of people—but mostly I was talking to an old friend. "

Mabel rolled over and propped her head up on her hand. "Old _friend_ , huh? "

Dipper climbed under the covers and let his head fall back on the pillow. "Not _that_ kind of friend."

"I noticed that you got your hat back—so you must have talked to Wendy."

"I _did,_ but not for very long—talk to Wendy, that is. She told me that someone wanted to talk to me. "

Mabel raised an eyebrow. "Oh, man, a mysterious someone. We're not even here twenty-four hours and you're doing mystery stuff. "

Dipper rolled his eyes. "At first I couldn't tell who he was, then—then—"

" _Then_?"

Dipper rolled over and rested his head on his hand like his sister. "It turned out to be Doctor McGucket. "

Mabel blinked, then her eyes went wide. "You mean Old _Man_ McGucket? "

Dipper rolled his eyes. "I don't think we should call him that anymore—but—yeah. "

Dipper's twin gazed at the floor a moment, then back up at him. "So—how is he? Has he got any more of his memory back? "

"Well, from what I understood, some—he and his son are living in the old Northwest mansion now. "

"He and—" Mabel blinked slowly. "Awww. I'm so glad he and his son are getting along, now. "

Dipper grinned. "Yeah, me, too. I asked if I could go visit him sometime, and he said he'd like that. "

"Could I come, too? "

Mabel's brother grinned appreciatively. "I'll bet he'd like that. "

Suddenly, the room lit up.

"What was _that_?" the twins said in unison. Dipper got to the window first. He could see some sort of trail in the darkening sky.

"Uh-oh. Something to investigate." Mabel said, rolling her eyes.

Dipper had to admit he was tempted, but he said, "Maybe they'll talk about it on the news tomorrow."

He gazed in the direction of the trail in the sky a moment more, and then returned to bed. This time he fell asleep seconds after his head hit the pillow.

Dipper woke up, and for a moment wondered where he was. When he came fully awake and remembered, he smiled.

Sitting up and looking across the room, he saw that Mabel was still asleep. Dipper got up, got dressed, and headed downstairs.

"Doo-doo doo-doo doo…cookin' breakfast for my pals…"

Dipper stood at the entrance to the kitchen and grinned, Soos, already up and dressed, was at the stove.

"Mornin' Soos. "

Soos looked over his shoulder. "Oh, hey dude, where's Mabel? "

Dipper went over and sat at the table. "Still asleep. Guess she's still worn out from last night's party. Thanks for that, by the way. "

"Hey, you dudes are my friends. Melody did most of the work, anyway. "

"It was sure nice to be welcomed back. "

"Anythin' for you dudes. So , what're you going to do on your first day back? Hunt up some ghosts or somethin'?"

Dipper grinned sheepishly. He had gotten himself a reputation the summer before, that was for sure.

"Actually, Soos, I was thinking of dropping in on Doctor McGucket today—if—you don't need any help around the Shack."

"Naw, that's cool, dude. If you want, I can take you for a ride up there after Melody gets here. "

"Thanks, Soos. "

Dipper had to admit, this felt just a little strange. Last summer, Soos had been all about "going on missions" with him. Of course, this summer there wouldn't be any "missions" just visits to friends.

*Yawn* "Don't you dare go without me."

Dipper and Soos both looked to see Mabel there. Dipper grinned at his sister.

"I wouldn't dream of it." He assured her.


	4. Chapter 4

About two hours later, after they had finished breakfast and Melody had arrived, Dipper and Mabel climbed into Soos' truck and headed to the Northwest Mansion.

"I guess we should be calling it the McGucket Mansion now, huh?" Mabel said as they went between the pillars where the gates used to swing.

"I guess so." Her brother agreed, immediately noting the absence of the gates that had once kept out the "commoners".

Soos went around the large fountain and parked in front of the mansion's front steps.

"Yeah, dudes, if there's one thing McGucket's not, it's 'all high-and-mighty'. One of the first things he did when he moved in was getting' rid of those gates. "

Mabel and Dipper both looked at each other. Last summer, when the Northwests had had their big soiree of the year there, people considered "commoners" were forced to stand on the outside of those gates…

"Thanks, Soos!"

"See you later!"

Dipper and Mabel hopped out of the truck and headed up the steps.

"Feels weird." Mabel said as she watched Soos' truck leave.

Dipper knocked on the door and looked down at himself. Last year, he would never have been allowed in in his usual short pants, t-shirt and vest.

Suddenly the door opened. "Hey, there, kids! Good to see ya! Come in, please!"

Mabel found herself smiling at McGucket's appearance. She now saw that he was clean shaven, had real spectacles, and wore a flannel shirt and jeans, along with actual shoes and socks.

"You're looking good, McGucket." She said aloud as the twins followed their host into the foyer.

"Thank you kindly, honey. I'm glad you came along with your brother. " McGucket said as he led them into the cavernous living space. Sitting in a chair that looked more like a throne, as it dwarfed McGucket's small body, he gestured toward the equally ornate couch across from him. "Sit, please. Can I get you kids anything?"

Dipper and Mabel both shook their heads.

"How's everything been since last year, McGucket-?"Mabel asked "I mean—Doctor McGucket?"

The older gentleman waved a hand. "Oh, pshaw—I never was one much for titles. Things've been great—I've been tinkerin' to my heart's content, I have a home that dosen't smell bad, an' best of all—" Dipper and Mabel both saw a tear come to their host's eye—"—I've got my son here with me."

"I'm really happy for you." Dipper said, and he meant it. Mabel nodded in agreement.

"Aw, thanks, kids. Say, would you like to see the addition I put on to the house? "

After looking at each other, the twins both looked back at McGucket.

"Addition?" Dipper said.

"And I thought this house was already huge." Mabel added.

"Eh, it's just a toy of sorts." McGucket said. "Come on, I'll show ya. "

The twins hopped off of the couch and followed him down a hall and to a flight of stairs. They went up the stairs and through a door.

"Whoa…"

"Sweet Sally…"

In the room the twins had been led to, there was a huge telescope. There was a moveable flight of steps to get to the lens one looked through.

"When did you have that put in?" Mabel asked.

McGucket chuckled. "Put in? Honey, I built it. "

Dipper reached his hand over and lifted his sister's jaw to close her mouth.

"Matter of fact, I was lookin' through this last night when…"

The twins looked at each other, then back at their host. "When what? "

"Well, kids, last night I was lookin' through the lens there, and I saw somethin' go streakin' through the sky. "

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other. "We saw something, too—but we were just getting ready to go to bed. " Dipper said.

McGucket went over to a small table on which a laptop sat. "I record everythin' this here telly-scope catches, an'…well, take a look yerselves. "

The twins came over, and the older man typed in a code on the computer. After a moment a photo came up, and then a video started. Something silver could be seen streaking over the trees, and Dipper's eyes widened at the shape of it. There was a bubble toward the front that could have been a windshield, and sharp triangular wings that could be seen when the object turned on its side.

"Th-that's no meteor." Dipper stuttered.

Mabel rolled her eyes. "Oh, boy, here we go. "

"I mapped out th' trajectory that there craft took, and I think I may have figgered out where it crashed. " McGucket told them.

"Are—I mean, do you plan to look for it? "Dipper asked, trying to hold back the excitement in his voice, but being largely unsuccessful.

McGucket looked back at him and smiled. "I did. You wouldn't want to come with me, would ya? "

"Yes, I'd love to! I mean, yes!"

Mabel could almost see her brother bouncing up and down with excitement. He kind of reminded her of what he said she did when she had too much Smile Dip…

"Oh, boy, here we go. I guess you won't be as bored as I thought you would be this summer, Dipping Sauce. "


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Dipper and Mabel packed lunches in their backpacks.

"You sure you won't be needing us, Soos?" Mabel asked as she put her backpack on.

"Melody and I'll be good here, dudes. I'm glad that you're hangin' out with Doctor McGucket. He's all alone in that big house when his son's at work. "

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other a bit sadly. "Okay, have a great day, Soos, we'll see you later!"

The twins stepped out onto the porch. "Where are we going again? "Mabel asked, adjusting the strap of her backpack.

Dipper got the note he'd gotten from Dr. McGucket out of his pocket. "To—the junkyard?"

Mabel's eyebrows shot up as she went down the steps. "I wouldn't think McGucket would want to see that place again. "

"Well, at least we know where it is." Dipper said, although he wondered if the place wouldn't bring back bad memories for McGucket, too.

The twins headed down the dirt road that led into town. When they reached the junkyard, Dipper looked around.

"I don't see him. "

"Hey, there, kids !"

The twins looked over to see the older gentleman at the door of the corrugated tin sheet shack that used to be his home.

Mabel tilted her head. "McGucket? What are you doing _here_? "

Dipper noted the rectangular metal box in McGucket's hand. Before he could ask about it the older man said,

"Well, I was lookin' for a part to put on my new little do-hickey here. I figgered it'd be here at the old place 'r in the junkyard somewhere, an' sure 'nuff, I found it. "

"Eh—what is it? "Mabel asked.

"Well, honey, it's a device fer detectin' radiation." McGucket explained as he headed out of the junkyard and back to the street.

Dipper blinked as he and Mabel followed. "Radiation? "

"Yep. When this starts goin' off, we should be near whatever landed last night. "

Dipper was silent a moment. _Whatever landed…_

McGucket pulled a compass out of his pocket, looked at it, and turned a corner. "Okay, kids. It's out to the forest, and we'll start lookin'!"

Dipper looked over his shoulder. "Uh—does your son know what you're doing? "

The twins' companion chuckled. "Well, I told 'im that I was gonna hang out with you two today. I'm sure he has the sneakin' suspicion what I'm doin', 'cause I told him about what I saw last night, but he doesn't know we think it's a –"

McGucket lowered his voice, though there was no one around to hear—"—spaceship. "

Dipper bit his lower lip. A spaceship—that's definitely what that object looked like in the recorded video McGucket had shown them the other day. If it was—and they hadn't just been imagining things—what sort of creatures had been in it? Had they survived the crash?

As they walked, Dipper thought about what they might find. Aliens? Would they be intelligent? Would they be friendly? Would they be…?

Feeling that he was being stared at, Dipper looked over at his sister to see her smiling at him knowingly.

" _What_?"

"Oh, it's just nice to see you in your 'element' again."

Dipper raised an eyebrow. "My— _element_?"

"Yeah. You get this look on your face that tells me you're looking for mysteries." Mabel squinted hard and set her jaw. "You're all serious and laser-focused-y."

Her brother rolled his eyes. "I am not."

Dipper looked ahead of them, and realized that they had entered the forest, which he hadn't noticed until that second (okay, maybe Mabel _had_ been right—a little). There was the occasional bird chirping, a squirrel ran up a tree, and leaves crunched under their feet, but—something—didn't seem right.

"Uh—Doctor McGucket, does something seem strange to you? "

The older man nodded, looking up into the trees. "Yep. I've walked all through these woods, and it seems—quieter, somehow. Like somethin's missin'. "

Suddenly McGucket's "do-hickey" started making a static-y noise.

"We're comin' close, kids." He said in a whisper.

"Oh, man—uh—Doctor McGucket—"

"Hush, son. Listen. Ya hear that?"

Dipper stopped. Ahead of them, and off to their left, he could hear voices.

"Trust me, this is the place."

"Trust you? Quill, you're an idiot. Why in the galaxy would the Collector come to _this_ place? There's nothin' but trees everywhere you look!"

"I have to agree will Rocket this time. "

"Aw, you always agree with Rocket. "

"I am Groot. "

"All right, look, we followed the Collector's trail and it led us here, okay? How was I supposed to know that the guy was going to go back in time?"

Someone sighed. "Okay, fine—but you'd better figure out a way to get us back, Quill."

The twins and McGucket ducked behind some bushes. Dipper looked through some spaces in the branches.

In the clearing, sure enough, was the spaceship they'd seen on McGucket's recording the other day. From what he could tell, there was some damage to its wing. Near the front nose of the craft, a young man in a thick brown-red leather jacket stood facing a small group of—well…

In the foreground of the group was a woman, with long dark hair and a green tint to her skin. Beside her, on its hind legs, was a—raccoon?—wearing an orange bodysuit of some sort. Behind him stood—sat?-a—tree with arms and legs?

The raccoon creature threw up its paws and walked closer to the young man in the leather jacket. "Well, we should check out if the Collector is actually _here_ , anyway."

It looked up at the young man. "But Quill, you're still an idiot."

Dipper was surprised to see eyes on the tree-creature blink, and a mouth move. "I am Groot." it said.

The raccoon turned to the tree-creature. "No, Groot, I'm _not_ being hard on him! Who knows if we'll be able to get out of here?"

The green-skinned woman closed her eyes and sighed. "Okay, fine. Bickering is going to get us nowhere. Once we find the Collector, we'll figure out a way to get out of here."

She opened her eyes and looked around. "Where's Drax?"

The young man they called "Quill" shrugged. "Ah, he went to ;search the perimeter for hostiles' or some such thing. "

Dipper looked around McGucket at his sister, who was looking back at him.

"We'd best get outta here, kids—" McGucket was saying, when they heard footsteps behind them. Dipper started to turn, when something grabbed the back of his shirt and lifted him into the air!


	6. Chapter 6

"What—" Dipper started, looking over to where his sister had been standing. He saw a pale green hand with the back of his sister's sweater along with the collar of Dr. McGucket's shirt in its grasp.

"What in tarnation—" Doctor McGucket let out, when the three of them were carried into the clearing.

"I found these spies behind the bushes." A deep, somewhat rough voice said behind them. "How should we deal with them? "

Dipper and Mabel both gulped.

Everyone in the clearing had turned to them. The raccoon-creature folded its arms.

"Seriously? Drax, it's a couple a' kids and an old man. I don't think you'd call 'em spies. "

"Appearances can be deceiving." Came the voice from behind Dipper and the others.

The young man in the leather jacket shook his head. "Drax, put them down, will you? They're hardly threatening. "

Dipper and the others heard a sigh, and they were lowered to the ground. Doctor McGucket straightened his collar and gave the being behind them a glare.

The tree-creature said, "I am Groot."

The raccoon in the orange bodysuit looked back at the tree-being and walked up to the trio. "You three okay?"

Dipper opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Yeah, we're good." He heard Mabel say. "So—I take it you guys are not from around here. "

The raccoon looked over his shoulder at the others. "Yeah, you could say that, kid." He looked over at Dipper. "What's wrong with him? "

Dipper shook his head as if to clear it. "Uh—nothing—I just—who are you guys? "

The young man in the leather jacket came over. "Hey, there, kid. I'm Peter Quill, but you can call me Star Lord—"

The raccoon piped up, "But you don't _have_ to call him that. "

He turned and pointed at the tree creature. "That's my buddy Groot, the lady you don't want to mess with—" he indicated the green skinned woman—"—is Gamora, and I'm Rocket. The big lug behind you is Drax. "

Dipper and Mabel turned to get a look at the being behind them. He was taller than Dr. McGucket, but not quite six foot, very muscular, and with orange—war paint?—on his shoulders, arms, chest, and around his eyes—which were white and had no irises or pupils.

"We're the Guardians of the Galaxy." Peter Quill said with a touch of pride in his tone.

"So, um—what areyou guys doing _here_? " Dipper asked as he turned back to the rest of the newcomers.

"We were following a criminal called the Collector. "the woman called Gamora said, stepping closer to them. "He is a deranged—hunter—of sorts that 'collects' what he considers unique species from other planets for his 'menagerie'. "

Dipper and Mabel gasped in unison and looked at each other.

"Oh no!"

"Our friends!"

"No wonder it's been so quiet 'round here." McGucket said with a frown.

The members of the Guardians of the Galaxy all looked at each other.

Quill looked back at McGucket and the twins. "Your- _friends_? "

"This place is chock full of interestin' stuff." McGucket told him. Th' kids and their great Uncles dealt with a lot of it last summer, but—that's kind of a long story. "

"We were friends with a lot of those creatures!" Mabel cried.

"Yeah, and from the sound of it they're just the kind of additions that Collector guy would want for his collection!" Dipper added, equally distressed.

"Well, that explains why he'd come back in time—still don't know how he knew about all of that, though." Quill said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"I am Groot."

"Yeah, pal, I know." Rocket answered the tree-creature. "Regardless of why the Collector came here, he'd still take his 'new collectibles' up to that menagerie of his in space, and we can't go anywhere when the Milano has a busted wing! "

"The Milano?" Mabel said, tilting her head. "Isn't that a cookie? "

Rocket looked at the tree creature Groot. "What's a cookie?"

Groot threw his branch-like hands up. "I am Groot?"

Peter Quill shook his head. "No—my ship isn't named after a cookie—"

"It is the name of a girl Quill used to see on television." The being called Drax said from behind them. "Though how that has anything to do with a craft that flies in space, I do not know."

"Well, like this here little fella Rocket said—" Dr. McGucket said, walking over and examining the Milano's wing, "This metal lady ain't goin' nowhere with this busted wing."

He scanned the top of the wing, then bent over and took a look at the bottom. "I think I've got some things that can fix 'er back at the junkyard-jest need some metal an' my blowtorch. "

He stood and looked over his shoulder at Quill. "That is, if'n that's all right with you, son. "

Rocket came over to McGucket's side and looked up at him. "Never mind Quill, I take care of the Milano. I don't know what a junkyard is, but let's get somethin' that'll fix this old girl and get after the Collector!"


	7. Chapter 7

"Bleh. Are we _there_ yet? "

Someone walking by Dipper looked at him a little strangely, but Dipper smiled up at them innocently. When the person was out of ear shot, Dipper said, "Yes, we're almost there. "

"Good," Came Rocket's muffled voice from inside Dipper's backpack. "-'cause it's gettin' hot in here. "

Dipper, Mabel, and Peter Quill followed McGucket back to the junkyard, Dipper with Rocket in his backpack. When they reached McGucket's old home again, Dipper took his backpack off.

"One second, Dipper."

McGucket went over to the fence and lifted a singular section of fencing from where it leaned against the fence that surrounded the junkyard.

"Here, old man, let me help you with that." Quill said, sauntering over and grabbing the other section of fence.

McGucket raised an eyebrow. "Son, I may be old enough to be your father or grandfather or whatever, but my name is Fiddleford McGucket. I'll _thank_ you to call me by one of those names. "

Quill turned a bit red, but smiled. "Yes, sir. "

Dipper and Mabel were a little surprised. They'd never really heard McGucket use the tone he was using with Quill, or stand up for himself like that before. As shocking as it was, it was still kind of good to hear.

McGucket and Quill moved the fence section so that it covered the hole left by the missing portion.

"There." McGucket said, dusting off his hands. "Now no one'll look in here and see your li'l friend, Dipper. "

Dipper leaned over and unzipped his backpack, and Rocket fairly bounced out.

"Phew! Man, kid, I could install some air conditioning in—"

He stopped and looked around, wide-eyed. "Whoa! You didn't tell me we were comin' to a toy store! "

McGucket grinned. "Yep. It's a nice place to find things for whatever ya happen t' be buildin'."

Without a word, Rocket disappeared into the piles of junk. Occasionally, they'd see his tail poke out from a pile, and hear sounds of rummaging. After about ten minutes, everyone heard him yell, "Heads up!" and a piece of sheet metal came flying out of the pile.

"That should do it!" Rocket said triumphantly, finally poking his head out of the pile.

Quill got down and looked at and the metal piece, giving it a rap with his knuckles. "Nice, Rocket. Thank you for letting us come down here, Mister McGucket. "

"My pleasure." The older man said, beaming. Looking over at Rocket, who had jumped back down to the ground he said, "If'n you don't mind, I'll bring my blowtorch along – providin' it'll help. " He already had the tank to the torch slung over his shoulder.

Dipper found himself grinning. Some people with PhDs would have insisted on being called "Doctor".

 _Well, he said he wasn't much for titles…_

Rocket paused, then shrugged. "Usually no one touches the Milano but me—but we're in a hurry. "

Rolling his eyes, he climbed back into Dipper's backpack. McGucket and Quill moved the fence section again, and then picked up the sheet metal. After that they were off again.

When the twins and the others returned to the clearing in the woods, Dipper thought the tree-creature Groot looked concerned. It got up from a rock it had been sitting on and said, "I am Groot?"

"Don't you worry, none, big fella. " McGucket answered as if the creature had spoken plain English. "Yer friend is jest in Dipper's backpack. Didn't want anyone to see 'im. "

Mabel looked up at him. "You understood what he said? "

McGucket smiled up at Groot, who Mabel was pretty sure smiled back. "Well, I think he's not so hard to understand—if'n ya listen. "

Rocket climbed out of Dipper's backpack and shook himself. "Seriously, kid, aside from air conditioning—you need somethin' to control the _stench_ in there. What do you usually keep in there—your dirty laundry? "

Mabel opened her mouth, but Dipper shot her a glare and she closed it.

"All right then, Rocket, let's get this gal back in the sky, shall we? " McGucket said, putting the rig for his blowtorch on the ground.

"Sure thing. Lemme just see if we can –"

Suddenly, the clearing became dark.

"Hm. It would appear that someone has extinguished the sun." Drax said matter-of-factly.

"No, Drax, they're just covering it up. " Gamora answered him, looking upward.

Dipper followed her gaze. Above them was a huge space ship. As he watched, a hatch opened on the bottom, revealing a large yellow bulb of some sort. Suddenly the forest lit up, and he had to shut his eyes against the brightness. After that there was a sensation of his feet suddenly not touching the ground.

"Dipper, what's happening?" he heard Mabel yell.

There was a clang, then he fell a short distance and hit something cold and hard.


	8. Chapter 8

"Dipper ! Dipper, please wake up! "

Dipper heard his sister's voice as though it was coming from the end of a tunnel. Slowly he opened his eyes.

Mabel exhaled. "Oh, thank goodness you're okay!"

"Yeah, I'm okay, "Dipper mumbled, putting his hands flat on the floor to push himself up. "Mabel, are you?"

His sister nodded, but grimaced.

Sitting up, Dipper looked around. They were in—some child's room, it seemed, there were toys scattered about, and two beds on opposite sides of the room.

"What _is_ this place?" Dipper wondered aloud.

"Ah, hello, children. I hope that you find your environment satisfactory. "

The twins looked up to see a man in a long robe. He stood about seven feet tall, Dipper guessed, with white pupil-less eyes and a bush of white hair on his head.

Dipper scrambled to his feet. "Who are you? Where are our friends? "

"Ah, do not worry. They are quite safe. I have dealt with the Guardians before. As for who I am, you may call me the Collector. "

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other. This was the guy the Guardians had been telling them about.

"Let us out of here, you—" Mabel started to say as she charged toward the man. Electricity crackled as she hit some kind of force field and was thrown back into the room.

"Mabel!" Dipper cried, running to his sister. Glaring up at the Collector he demanded, "Why have you brought us up here? "

"Well, I would very much have preferred to have you by yourselves, without ze Guardians." The Collector said. "I have never seen a male and female of the human species who looked so much alike. "

Mabel groaned and sat up, holding her head. "You've never seen twins before? Where have you been, mister? "

"Twins, you say? Eenteresting. " The Collector turned to make his way down the hall way that crossed in front of the force field. "Enjoy your stay. It will be fascinating watching you grow up. "

Dipper went as close to the force field as he dared and looked out. They were in some sort of cylindrical structure—around and above them were several more "cells" like theirs, in which he could see numerous other creatures.

"Oh my gosh—the multi-bear! Manataur guy !"

Mabel got up and came to Dipper's side, careful not to touch the force field again. "Oh, my gosh—look at all those—creature things! Dip, we've got to get out of here and get them all to their homes!"

Dipper nodded. "The trouble is, how do we _get_ out of here—and how do we find our friends?"

In another section of the ship, the Guardians and McGucket were in a far less furnished, darker cell.

Gamora went over to McGucket, who had sat down by the wall, taken his spectacles off and put his head in his hands.

"It'll be all right, Mr. McGucket—we'll get out of here and find the kids. " Gamora assured him.

The older man didn't look up. "If anything happens to them, I'll never forgive myself. "

"I am Groot." Groot said in a soothing tone, placing a bark-covered hand on McGucket's back.

"Thank you, big fella." McGucket said, looking up at him. "An' you, too, miss. I just don't know how we're gonna get outta here. "

Drax grabbed the bars of the cell. "I shall bend these apart."

Rocket was looking around at the cell walls. "Don't do that, muscle brain, you'll probably set off some kind of alarm or something."

Drax turned and looked at Rocket. McGucket tried to figure out if the muscular green man was angry or not, but then he said, "To the best of my knowledge, Rocket, the brain is not considered a muscle, nor are there any in it. "

McGucket stood up, came over to Rocket and knelt down so that he could look the Guardian in the eye. "Where d' ya suppose th' controls fer this alarm'd be, if'n there was one? "

Rocket grinned and raised an eyebrow. "I like where you're goin' with this, McGucket." He said.

He looked around the cell, then went over to the bars and looked around the room.

"So, you like electronic stuff, Mr. McGucket?" Quill asked from his seat on the floor.

"Y'could say that." The older man answered him, feeling around one of the cell walls for a hidden door of some sort that would reveal the alarm controls. "I've—built a few mechanical things in my day. If Rocket 'er I c'n find the controls for the alarm, he 'r I c'n likely disarm it an' we can get out of here and find those kids. "

In their own cell, Dipper was sitting on the floor. He was chewing on his left forefinger knuckle, and with the other hand he was rubbing the "Big Dipper" birthmark on his forehead. Mabel had noticed over the past year that her twin brother had gotten into the habit of doing the latter as well as chewing on things when he was thinking.

Mabel was looking around the room. It had been furnished with random things—the beds, baby blocks, a race car set, a couple of dolls.

 _I wonder if the Collector guy ever had any kids?_ She thought, flopping on her back on one of the beds.

Looking up at the ceiling, she figured that it was maybe eight feet above them. It was made of dull metal from the look of it, and was smooth, except for—

"Dipping sauce!" she cried, sitting up.

Her brother shook his head and blinked hard, as if having trouble pulling himself away from his thoughts. "What's wrong, Mabel? "

"Nothing's wrong—" his sister answered, pointing up. "I think that I just found our way out of here. "


	9. Chapter 9

"Dang it, I can't find a thing!" Rocket said in a disgusted tone.

"What exactly are we looking for again?" Quill asked, his hands feeling across one of the walls.

"Some kinda hatch or door or somethin'." McGucket explained. "If'n that Collector fella left controls to the alarm around here, he wouldn't jest leave it in plain sight."

"I am Groot." Groot seemed to agree.

Drax looked upward. "It occurs to me that the Collector would not have put such a thing in an easy to reach place, either. "

Quill turned away from the wall and looked up. The ceiling was about six feet above his head, and he could swear he saw some kind of hatch with a handle.

"Y'know, what, Drax, I think you've got something."

Drax looked over at Quill. "And—what is it that I've got, exactly?" he looked at his hands. "I see nothing. "

Quill rolled his eyes. "Hey, Groot, would you—"

"I am Groot." McGucket heard the tree creature answer, and the next thing he knew, he was being lifted into the air.

"What in tarnation—" The older man looked over his shoulder to see Groot's arms stretching up behind him. "Well, I'll be." He said with a smile. "That's a mighty nice talent you've got there, big fella. "

He was pretty sure that Groot smiled.

When McGucket could reach the ceiling he said, "Hold on there, Groot, I c'n reach it, now. "

Groot's arms stopped extending, and McGucket began to reach for the handle.

"Huh. Odd fella this Collector guy. Why have a handle on a door that swings in?" he said aloud, pushing the door to the hatch up.

"'Cause like you said, he's odd." Quill answered from below.

"Pot calling the kettle black." Gamora said.

"Pot? Kettle? What're you talking about, Gamora, this ain't a kitchen!" Rocket groaned.

"For once I must agree with Rocket. I see no such utensils in this cell. "added Drax.

"It's an Earth saying—" Quill started, then looked at Gamora. "Hey, are you calling me odd?"

McGucket could barely hear the conversation below. After pushing the door above open, he had told Groot, "A little more, big fella." And Groot extended his arms a few inches more.

After looking around a moment, McGucket called down to the others. "There're several tunnels up here—like air ducts 're somethin'. "

There was a pause, then Quill said, "Well, are they very big? "

"Big enough for me to crawl through, son." McGucket called down.

He hoisted himself up in to the hole, finding that he could just crawl on his hands and knees. With a bit of difficulty, he turned around and looked down at the others. "I'm going to go see if I can find those kids. "

"Be careful." Gamora called.

"Aw, don't you worry none, Miss Gamora. There's probably nothin' up here but space rats, and I've dealt with plenty of rats over the years. "

With that he turned and crawled down the air duct.

Dipper came over to the bed where his sister hand laid down and looked up. "Hey, that looks like some sort of hatch." He said, glancing toward the entrance to their cell as if to see if anyone was looking or listening. "But—how on earth do we get up there? "

Mabel sat up. "Easy." She said, slipping off her backpack. She set it on the floor, unzipped it, and pulled out her grappling hook. "With this. Good thing that Collector guy didn't take our backpacks, huh? "

Dipper smiled and shook his head, remembering that he had once told Mabel, "That grappling hook has never helped us once!" Now, it was going to help them again.

"Okay, Mabel, see if you can fire it at the hatch and knock it open or something, but—" he looked again toward the cell opening – "Let me go over here and see if anyone's coming. "

Dipper got as close as he dared to the cell entrance and tried looking up and down the catwalk directly outside. No one seemed to be around.

"Okay, Mabel, go for it." He said as he turned back towards her.

Mabel nodded, aimed her grappling hook at the hatch, whispered, "Grappling hook!" and fired.

The metal hook hit the hatch, which was knocked aside, and fell to the floor.

"Mabel, you did it!" Dipper cheered, though he also whispered so that they wouldn't be heard.

Mabel grinned and looked up at the hatch again. "I'll see if I can get it hooked onto the edge this time. "

She aimed, and then shot again. The hook latched itself by two of its three prongs to the edge of the hole above them.

"Okay, Dipping sauce, come on! "

Dipper barely had time to think before his sister pulled him closer by his shirt, wrapped an arm around his waist and hit the "retract" switch on the side of the grappling hook gun.

"Yike!" Dipper squeaked as he watched the floor get further away from them.

When the two stopped, Mabel said, "Reach up and grab the edge, Dip!"

Looking up, Dipper saw the edge of the hole inches from his reach. He grabbed the edge, and Mabel scrambled up to the shaft inside. After managing to turn herself around, she grabbed Dipper's wrists and leaned back, pulling him all the way up.

"Hm. Looks like some sort of air duct system or—"

Mabel began crawling down the shaft. "No time to analyze, Dipping Sauce, let's go find everyone! "

Dipper rolled his eyes and followed.


	10. Chapter 10

"So Dip, what do you think we'll find at the end of this thing? "Mabel asked.

Dipper shook his head, lost in his thoughts. How long had they been crawling down this shaft? "What? "

Mabel stopped and sighed. "I _said_ , what do you think we'll find at the end of this thing? "

"Sorry, I was just thinking. "

Mabel looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. "So what else is new? "

Dipper smiled back, and then suddenly his smile disappeared. "Hey, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Shh."

The twins were silent a moment. Ahead of them, from down a side shaft, they both heard a shuffling noise.

"Oh, no—" Mabel squeaked.

Dipper crawled forward, squeezed past his sister and made ready to protect her. He hoped it was from nothing too big…

"Doctor McGucket ?"

The older man poked his head around the corner. "Kids! Well ain't you a sight for sore eyes! "

He crawled further into the shaft. "I'd hug you both if'n it weren't s' darn cramped in here!"

"McGucket, where have you been—and where are the Guardians? "

"Well, Mabel," the older man said, "That Collector fella put me an' th' Guardians in a cell down below somewheres. We discovered a hatch in the ceilin', an' Groot lifted me up so's I could open it, so I climbed inside. "

"Weird." Dipper said. "There was a hatch above our cell, too. "

"The room—cell thingy was really weird, too." Mabel added. "It was like some kind of five-year-old's room. Also, that Collector guy really needs to rethink his cell design - doesn't he get that putting a hatch in the ceiling will make people think of getting out? "

McGucket chuckled. "I have to agree with you there, honey." Looking at Dipper, he pointed over the boy's shoulder. "So you two came from that aways?"

Both of the twins nodded.

With some difficulty even for his small frame, the older man turned himself around. "All righty then. Let's keep goin' this away and see what we can find. This shaft has to end somewheres. "

"Yes, sir." Dipper answered with a touch of relief in his voice. He still didn't know what they might be facing, but he felt better knowing that he and Mabel now had someone else along with them.

"Doctor McGucket, have you heard any alarms or anything? "

"No, son. I'm with your sister—awfully odd that there'd be hatches in the tops of the cells like that – though if'n it hadn't been for Groot I couldn't have reached it. "

Dipper thought a second. "Groot—oh, that's the tree guy."

"Yep. Turns out he can stretch or grow his arms out, too. He had't do that t' get me up t' the hatch at the top of our cell."

"I guess the Collector thought that having those hatches _really_ high up would keep people from trying." Mabel said as she continued crawling. "—but he didn't count on my grappling hook!"

"Yer—?" McGucket started, looking back at her. He then chuckled. "You kids've always been resourceful, that's fer sure. "

Dipper was looking ahead of them. "Hey, what's that? "

His two companions looked ahead of them. Further down the shaft, a faint light shone in from the left side.

"Hm. Be careful, kids—let's go take a gander."

The twins both nodded and followed behind—though Mabel wondered what their situation had to do with a male goose.

When they reached the light, they saw that it came from a kind of grate in the side of the shaft. Looking through, Dipper saw what appeared to be a bank of control panels.

"Hm. Looks like some sort of control center." McGucket said aloud.

Dipper studied the grate. It appeared to be made of something akin to a screen on a window at home. "I got this. "

Pulling out his pocket knife, he poked it through the screen-like material and started cutting.

When he was done, the screen fell into the room below them and clattered a bit on the floor, making all three escapees tense up. When no alarms went off, all three exhaled at once. Mabel latched her grappling hook onto the edge of the hole Dipper had made and repelled down the wall. Dipper and McGucket followed.

Once all three of them were on the floor, Mabel retracted her grappling hook while Dipper and Dr. McGucket looked around.

"Looks like some sort of surveillance room." Dipper said in a low voice, as if he were afraid someone would hear them.

McGucket looked at what appeared to be individual control units, each with a screen above them. "Hm. Looks like this is th' way that Collector fella keeps an eye on everybody in th' little livin' quarters he's got 'em in."

Dipper looked at the screens. He saw the gnomes all sleeping on the floor where they were, the Manotaurs punching each other (probably for something to do), and…

He gasped. "Oh, my gosh, guys! Is that—is _that_ the-? "

Mabel looked up at the monitor and gasped.

McGucket followed her gaze. "Well I'll be a June Bug at th' bottom of a slop jar…"

The twins couldn't help but both glance at the older man confusedly, but returned their gaze to the monitor.

In some sort of large tank in who-knew-what part of the ship, was the actual, real-life Gobblewonker.


	11. Chapter 11

"Th—the—" Dipper stammered.

"Th' Gobblewonker." McGucket said, still staring at the screen and blinking slowly. "My word—who'd'a thunk it—an' it looks like I got m' rob't pretty close t' the real thing, too. "

The twins couldn't help but cast grins at each other, remembering how they'd gone hunting for the "legendary" Gobblewonker at the beginning of last summer, only to find that McGucket had built a large robotic version of the creature to get attention from his son.

Dipper shook his head and looked down at the control panels under each screen. "These must open and close the cells and things. "

"But which button-y—switch-y thingy does what? "Mabel said, looking thoroughly confused as she stared at the control panels herself.

McGucket was gazing intently at the nearest control panel, then lifted his head and turned his gaze on the screen that showed the Guardians in the cell below. "Well, lemme see…."

He walked closer to the control panel under the Guardians' screen and looked it over. "Dipper, have y' got yer pocketknife handy? "

"Yes, sir." Dipper answered, pulling the knife back out of his pocket. What could the older man want with—

"Thank you kindly." The older man said, taking the knife, exposing the blade, and prying open a small plate Dipper hadn't seen on the corner of the control panel. As the lid of the panel popped off, several wires were exposed.

McGucket glanced up at the screen again, then pulled a bunch of the wires out. "Welp, hope this works!"

Then, before Dipper or Mabel could say anything, the older man put the blade of the knife under the wires, lifted them up, and sawed back and forth a few times.

*Snap-snap-snap*!

Dipper and Mabel both jumped back as sparks flew. Looking back up at the screen after the initial shock, Dipper saw the door to the Guardians' cell swing open. Quill ran out, turning as Gamora said something to him, then Rocket ran out ahead of him, followed by the other Guardians.

Dipper's eyes went wide. "How—how did you know it would do that?" 

"I didn't." McGucket answered, going to the next panel and prying it off. "—but I've been around long enough to know that if'n' you mess with the wires on somethin', it's likely to muck it up. "

Dipper and Mabel just looked at each other.

"Uh, Doctor McGucket, what about that Collector guy?" Mabel asked.

"Guess we'll worry about him when it comes to it." McGucket answered as he snapped another set of wires and set the gnomes free.

Dipper looked to their left, and finally noticed the door that led out of the room. "Um—Doctor McGucket, if you're going to let everybody out, what—"

Just then they all heard running footsteps in what must have been the hallway outside the door.

Mabel brandished her grappling hook.

Dipper clenched his fists, wishing he had a better weapon.

Suddenly there was a ZZZZZZZT! noise from out in the hallway, and ice covered the door.

Dr. McGucket stepped in front of the children.

Bam! BAM !

The trio in the room saw the ice crack. A couple more BAMs, and :

Crack! Shatter!

The twins and McGucket put their hands up to shield themselves from flying ice.

"Hey!" came a familiar voice. "You _are_ in here! Awesome !"

Dipper, Mabel and McGucket uncovered their faces to see Peter Quill standing there, an odd, almost horse-shoe shaped weapon in his hand.

"Um…" Mabel muttered.

"Hi?" Dipper added.

"Son, where're the rest of th' Guardians?" McGucket asked, lowering his hands.

Quill holstered the weapon. "They're out taking care of the Collector—along with—I guess—some of your friends? " he finished, throwing up his hands.

Dipper nodded, grinning. Mabel rolled her eyes when she thought of last summer's first encounter with the gnomes. "Well— _some_ friends…"

Just then they heard lots of yelling that seemed to be coming from further down the hall.

"Well, let's go, kids—Doctor McGucket. Sound like we may be needed out there. "

Mabel looked up at the screen that showed the Gobblewonker in its tank. "But—"

Quill followed her gaze, then smiled down at her. "Don't worry—we'll make sure everyone gets back where they belong. "

Mabel smiled back, took a last glance at the Gobblewonker's screen, and then headed out the door after her brother and McGucket. Quill followed her.

McGucket stopped in the hall and addressed Quill. "Son, you'd better show us the way outta here. I'd be as lost as'n ant in a shag carpet."

"No problem." The Guardians' leader said, charging ahead of the old man and the twins.

The quartet went partway down the hall, turned right, went down another short hall, and turned left, then immediately right again.

Both Dipper and Mabel looked upward. "Whoa…."


	12. Chapter 12

The best word one might describe the scene in front of them with was "chaos".

The gnomes had "united" into the large "mega – gnome" form they had once chased Dipper and Mabel down in. The manotaurs were scurrying on different levels of the menagerie, some punching controls to open cells and free creatures and others just—punching things to punch them. Dipper caught sight of the Gremloblin, roaring and slashing walls with its claws. Fairies darted in and out between other creatures, and Mabel caught sight of a few unicorns charging horn first into things.

In the midst of all this, the remaining Guardians were either defending themselves from attacking creatures, or shouting to one another.

"I am Groot!" the tree-like Guardian cried as he raised his hands to fend off flying debris.

"Krutack!" yelled Rocket, jumping off one of the cell level's catwalks and onto Groot's head. "Don't these things know we're trying to help 'em? "

Dipper glanced to his right, and saw a Manotaur that he remembered went by "Hutzpah." Waiting for a space, he ran out into the fray toward the creature.

"Kid, wait!" Quill called after him, then having to turn and shoot a piece of flying debris in order to keep it from hitting him in the head.

"Son, don't go out there!" McGucket called out to the boy, hurrying after him. Mabel started to go after him, but Quill grabbed her by the collar of her sweater. "Kid, don't follow them, you'll get killed!"

Dipper kept his eyes on Hutzpah, dodging creatures and flying debris. Behind him, McGucket tried calling out over the din.

"Dipper, be careful, you'll –"

Suddenly he felt something grab him around the waist and lift him into the air.

Turning his head, he saw the Gremloblin behind him.

"Now, you just put me down, you big ugly critter!"

The creature's eyes began to turn from red to yellow, and McGucket wondered what that could mean, when—

"I am Groot !"

A huge "wooden" fist came down on the Gremloblin's head, and the creature fell to the floor. McGucket landed in Groot's other hand.

"Phew!" the older man breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at Groot, who appeared to have a look of concern in his dark eyes.

"I am Groot? "

McGucket drew another deep breath and smiled. "I have the feelin' you're askin' if I'm all right. Don't worry, none, Mister Groot, I am. "

Groot smiled, then to McGucket's surprise stretched out his arm so that the hand with McGucket in it went across the room. When it reached the wall, McGucket stood and waved.

"Thank you kindly!" he called to Groot, then jumped off of the Guardian's hand and onto the floor a few feet from Dipper, who was talking with some sort of bi-ped bull creature.

Walking over, the older man placed a hand on Dipper's shoulder. "Son, what—"

The manotaur nodded, then turned to the room and drew a deep breath. He then bellowed, "Everybody, cut it out!"

A few of the creatures stopped and looked in their direction. Others continued their melee.

The manotaur drew another deep breath and bellowed louder. "I said, _cut_ - _it_ - _out_!"

The room went silent, except that Dipper was pretty sure that he heard Drax whisper, "If this creature is giving instructions, the least he could do is tell us what to cut—and what implement are we meant to cut with ?"

Hutzpah then lifted Dipper onto his shoulders. Dipper waved away a fly, then drew a deep breath and shouted, "Everyone! We shouldn't be fighting each _other_! We need to band together and find this Collector guy! He's the reason we're all here!"

The creatures in the room looked at one another. There was a lot of murmuring and nodding.

Across the room, Peter Quill tilted his head. "Y'know, your brother's a pretty good negotiator."

Mabel nodded, a large grin on her face.

"So, what do you propose we do?" came a voice that Dipper almost immediately recognized as Jeff the gnome, who, with his "gnome brigade" had tried to make Mabel their queen the summer before.

"We split up and search this ship!" Dipper said, then suddenly looked embarrassed. "That is, if _you_ think that's a good idea, Mr. Quill. You and the Guardians know this Collector guy better than any of us. "

Quill took a step forward. "Sounds good to me, kid."

He turned to his crew. "Gamora, go with the – I can't believe I'm saying this – the unicorns and the fairies. Drax—take the—uh—man—bull guys with you –"

"Manotaurs!" a Manotaur named "Beardy" corrected from up on one of the catwalks.

"Yeah, sorry—Manotaurs—Groot—go look for the Collector with the—uh—giant…"

"They're gnomes." Mabel whispered to Quill.

"Gnomes? Really? Okay—the gnomes—and—uh—"

"I'll go with Groot and the giant Gnome-thing ." Rocket said matter-of-factly. "Come on, Groot, let's find the Collector jerk. "

Each of the odd groupings went off in a different direction, leaving Quill, the twins, and McGucket in the room.

"An' what're we doin', son?" McGucket asked Quill.

The leader of the Guardians appeared to be in thought a moment, then brightened. "We need to get to the bridge. We've got to steer this ship back to Earth! "


	13. Chapter 13

The twins and McGucket hurried after Quill, who had darted off through a door to their right.

Quill rushed in and headed straight for what looked like yet another control panel. As soon as they came in the door, the three following him stopped short in their tracks.

"Sweet Moses…"

"Whoa…"

"Well I'll be hornswaggled…."

Above the control panel was a row of large windows. Out the window they could see the earth. They were close enough to see clouds, but the view of the land and water below was nothing but green, blue and white.

Dipper took a few steps forward, looking straight out the windows at the deep blackness dotted with twinkling stars. "Amazing—we're actually in space…"

Mabel rushed ahead of him, fairly pressing her nose against the window. "Hey, Dipping sauce, there's your birthmark!"

Dr. McGucket looked down at Dipper, who had smacked his face with his hand. "Ma-bel…" Dipper grumbled.

"Dipper?"

Rolling his eyes, Dipper took off his hat and lifted his bangs. Dr. McGucket raised his eyebrows at the sight of a perfect Big Dipper in red dots on Dipper's forehead.

"Well, I'll be, that explains a lot." McGucket said with a grin. Seeing the frown on Dipper's face he said, "Son, we've all got out little weirdnesses. That's what makes us special. "

Dipper had to chuckle at that, remembering his great Uncle Ford's six-fingered hands.

"Okay, let's see-" Quill was saying as he was flipping switches and pushing buttons on the control panel. "Yeah, here we go."

He turned a knob, and the nose of the ship tipped sharply downward.

"Who-a-a-a!"

Mabel fell over and tumbled under the control panel. Dipper fell on his knees, and Dr. McGucket fell flat on his stomach.

"Son, what did you _do_? "he asked Quill as he tried to push himself into a sitting position.

"Ah—I think I turned the wrong dial?" Quill said, frantically trying to find a button that would right the craft.

Mabel crawled out from beneath the control panel. Pulling herself up on it, she drew a sharp breath as she saw the quickly approaching Earth. "Oh my gosh, we're going to crash! "

"Quill, what the flarg are you doin'!?"

Dipper turned his head to see Rocket in the doorway.

Quill turned to look over his shoulder, grinning sheepishly at Rocket. "Uh – trying to land?"

The raccoon/not a raccoon marched over and shoved Quill out of the seat (well, put his paws on Quill's thigh as if shoving him, and Quill got up).

"Move over! Jeez, it's a wonder you can even fly the Milano…"

Rocket's dark eyes scanned the control panel, then he stood up on the seat and smacked down a button just out of his reach. After another scan, he pulled down a lever.

The ship shuddered, but kept going. Dipper could make out mountains and bodies of water more clearly now.

"Rock-et—" Quill intoned.

"Look, the Collector escaped in a pod and before he left he wrecked the controls. I didn't have time to fix them _and_ keep you from killin' us all!"

He went under the control panel. Dipper and Mabel could hear clanking and squeaking. "Right now I hope that I can at least figure out how'ta stop this thing. "

Dipper felt a pain in his hand. Looking down, he saw that Mabel was squeezing it – hard.

"I had hoped we could see Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford one more time. " she mumbled.

Dipper wasn't sure what to say. He had hoped so, too, but now it looked like…

He couldn't tear his gaze away from the window. The mountaintops grew ever closer, then the treetops. He found himself squeezing Mabel's hand. Feeling an arm around his shoulder, he looked up to see Dr. McGucket, giving him a half-hearted smile.

"Rocket !" Quill yelled.

"Quill would you shut up already, I'm tryin' to - "

"Whoa !"

"Yikes!"

"What in tarnation – "

Dipper went flying forward. His head hit the control panel. He heard Dr. McGucket scream, but was stunned and couldn't move. Where was Mabel…?

"Kid? Kid, you okay? "

Dipper blinked. Above him he could see the concerned face of Peter Quill.

"Mister Quill? Where-?"

He sat up, a little too fast. A sharp pain tore through his head.

"Owwww—where's Mabel ?"

He saw the tree-creature Groot come over, Mabel in one of his hands. "Dipper !" She cried, jumping out of Groot's hand and wincing, then throwing her arms around her brother's neck.

"Mabel, you're okay. "Dipper said softly, pain still ripping through his head. "Where—where's –"

"Now wait just a minute, Mister Drax, I can walk just fine. It's my arm that's busted, not my leg."

Dipper looked up. The green and orange-skinned man was carrying Dr. McGucket over to the children and Quill.

"Regardless, sir, you are of old age, and after this ordeal you are likely in need of help. "

McGucket raised an eyebrow. "Well, if'n that's your way of sayin' you're respecting your elders, fine, but I'm tellin' you I can walk!"

Dipper and Mabel grinned at each other.

Drax brought McGucket closer to Quill and the twins, and finally set him down. Dipper and Mabel noted McGucket had a crude splint on his arm.

"Doctor McGucket, are you okay?" Mabel asked.

"Aw, I'm fine." The older man answered. "It's just a broken arm, an'—how d' you kids say—"Been there, done that'."

Dipper and Mabel shared grins again, remembering the un-needed cast that was on McGucket's arm for years—even though his arm had healed from breaking it in a car accident.

"But—where—where—"

"Everyone left after we—uh—landed."

"A few of them said thank you, at least." Quill said, rolling his eyes.

"I am Groot."

"Yeah, you're not kiddin' – ungrateful bunch a'-"

" _So-o-o…"_ Quill interrupted his shipmate. "Where's Gamora?"

"She's—" Rocket smirked. "She's takin' a piece off 'a' the Collector's ship. "

Dipper and Mabel looked to see the green skinned woman pulling a partially-peeled piece of metal off of the side of the ship. After she had pulled at it a few more times, it came loose.

"Dang…" Mabel mumbled.

After Gamora had removed the ship piece, the twins and the other Guardians watched her take out her gun and shoot.

Crash!

Glass tinkled and broke, and Gamora ran out of the way as water spilled out of the side of the ship. Along with it came—

"The Gobblewonker!" Dipper, Mabel, and McGucket all gasped as they watched the huge creature spill out into the lake.


	14. Chapter 14

Mabel looked out at the dock nearby, and realized where they were. "Wow…this is where Mermando left to go home. I wonder how he is."

Dipper rolled his eyes. "Um—so, what now?"

"Now, we salvage parts offa this thing and fix the Milano. "Rocket said. "We were trying to figure out how t' get home before the Collector came and screwed things up. "

"Rocket, we already got parts to fix the Milano." Gamora reminded him.

"Yeah—right—a lot's happened in the last twelve hours or whatever it's been, okay? "Rocket's eyes widened a second. "Hang on."

He raced back to the collector's ship and went through the hole Gamora had made by ripping off part of the ship's side.

"Well, when he gets back, we _do_ need to go and fix your ship." McGucket said matter-of-factly.

"But Dr. McGucket, you're in no shape to—" Gamora started.

"Young lady, I'm just fine. I only need one hand to hold that torch. "

Gamora glanced at Quill, who mouthed, "Don't argue with him," and simply nodded.

"What about you, young man?"

Dipper looked up at Drax, realizing that the muscular green Guardian was talking to him. "I'm going with you guys. "

"Now, son—" McGucket started.

"Please, sir." Dipper said, looking the older man right in the eye. "I can't miss the Guardians leaving. "

Quill raised an eyebrow. "Well, provided we –"

"I got it!"

Everyone looked to see Rocket come running out of the ship, a sphere of glass with wires attached to it in his paw.

"What's that thing? " Mabel asked.

"This, my young Earth friend, is the device that the Collector used to open a portal and send us all back in time. "

"Sweet." Quill said with a smile. "Well, let's get moving."

Drax made a move to pick Dr. McGucket up, but the older gentleman took a step back. "Ah-ah. It's my arm that's broke, not my leg. "

"Very well then. "Drax came over to Dipper and picked him up. Dipper wasn't about to argue. His head hurt, but there was no way he was leaving everyone now.

The group made their way around the lake, trying to stay in the trees so that they wouldn't be seen. Going this way took a couple of hours, but finally:

"Ah, there's my baby." Quill said at the sight of the Milano.

"I'll go see where I can install this thing." Rocket said, taking the globe device he'd taken from the collector's ship and heading for the Milano's cockpit.

McGucket walked straight over to his welding equipment, ready to go. "Miss Gamora or Mister Drax, could one of you bend this here metal so that's it's in the right place afore I weld it? "

Drax set Dipper down by a tree. "I shall."

Gamora glanced at him. "I could do it."

Drax came over and picked up the metal sheet they'd gotten in the junkyard. "I know, but you have already shown your prowess with the Collector's ship and freeing the lake creature. Now it is my turn. "

Gamora rolled her eyes. "Men."

Dipper watched as Drax easily bent the metal they'd found around the damaged part of the Milano. Dr. McGucket set to work.

Mabel came over and sat by Dipper. "Dipping sauce, are you okay? "

Her brother winced at the pain shooting through his head. "My head is killing me—but I can't just go off to the hospital and not see the Guardians leave."

Mabel nodded, though she felt a little sad.

Dipper noted the frown on her face. "What's wrong?"

Mabel sighed. "Aw, it just seems like we make new friends and they have to leave—or we have to leave them. "

Dipper had to smile. At home, before they fell asleep at night, Mabel would always talk to Dipper about this creature or that creature or this incident or that incident that they had met/had happened in Gravity Falls. He had to admit, Piedmont had been a "little" boring after the previous summer.

"I know it's hard, Mabel," Dipper said, wincing at a pain that shot through his head. "But—saying goodbye is part of growing up, remember? "

Mabel sighed. "Yeah, but it's still hard. "

"And there it is. " McGucket said, stepping back from the Milano's wing and checking over his work. "It'll need some time to cool."

"It will cool. Space is pretty cold." Quill assured him.

Just then Dipper and Mabel were rather surprised to see Drax get on one knee in front of them.

"You two are some of the strongest warriors I have ever seen for your age and size. And you—" Drax focused on Dipper, "—are quite the strategist."

Dipper gulped. "Uh—thank you. "

Mabel blinked. "Wow—warrior? Thank you. "

"I am Groot." Groot said, placing a large hand on McGucket's shoulder.

The older man looked up at the tree creature, and thought his eyes looked a little sad.

"Aw, shucks, Groot—I'll miss you, too. I'm glad you folks dropped by—even if it was a mistake."

Gamora nodded. "Of course, thanks to Quill, it _was_ —"

"Hey—"

"—but—as I've heard him say, this time it seemed to be a 'happy accident'. "

"I will be happy when we get back to our own time." Drax said. Dipper and Mabel wondered if Drax ever _looked_ happy.

"Whelp, it's done."

Everyone looked to see Rocket hop out of the Milano's cockpit.

"Time to go." He said.

"Well, kids, it's been nice knowing you." Quill said, coming over and getting on his knee as Drax had. "You're both really awesome kids. I'll always think of you as Guardians. "

Both of the twins' eyes widened.

"Whoa…"

"Wow—thank you. "

Quill got up and turned to Dr. McGucket. "You too, sir—if you don't mind my saying. "

McGucket shook his head and smiled. "I certainly don't, son." He said, extending a hand. "It's been nice knowin' ya. "

The leader of the Guardians took McGucket's hand and shook it firmly, then waved to the twins and joined the others in the Milano.

"Okay, Rocket, fire this thing up!" he said as the cockpit closed.

McGucket stepped back as the Milano's thrusters fired up. In front of the ship, a hole appeared, swirling with rainbow colors.

Above the noise, the twins and McGucket could barely hear Quill say, "Hey, it worked !"

To which Rocket replied, "Of course it worked, for crutack's sake! "

With that the ship lifted off of the ground and disappeared through the swirling hole, which closed behind them.


	15. Chapter 15

For a minute or two, the twins sat in silence, McGucket standing where he was. Finally he turned to them.

"Well, kids—we'd better get you home," he focused on Dipper—"—and you to a hospital. "He looked down at his arm, still in the makeshift sling. "Guess that's where I should be headed, too."

Dipper shook his head and was about to protest, when a sharp pain tore through his head. "Ow—okay, I guess you're right. "

Mabel helped Dipper get up, and held his arm as the three headed out of the forest.

"So, what was that you were saying about not having as exciting a summer this time?" Mabel asked.

Dipper chuckled. "Okay, but this was just one time. "

"Well, that was enough excitement for me, I'll tell ya. " Dr. McGucket said. Maybe we'll do something like that again next—"

"Wait, guys, did you hear that? "Mabel interrupted.

"Well, hon, I still need to invest in a hearing aid, so probably not." McGucket told her.

Dipper stopped and listened. Then he heard the voices.

"Dipper! Mabel! Dudes, where are you?"

"Dad!"

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other, and then in unison called, "Soos !"

McGucket looked to see Soos and Tate entering the forest. "Son! We're over here!"

Tate McGucket looked in their direction, and started running. Soos followed, but had to stop and catch his breath a couple of times.

"Dad!"

The twins watched as Tate threw his arms around his father and lifted him up off the ground. They smiled at each other, thinking what a wonderful change it was from the summer before. Back then, Tate had complained about his father "scaring off his customers" and sprayed him with a water bottle like he was a misbehaving pet.

Soos finally caught up. "Dudes!" He stopped to catch his breath, putting his hands on his knees while he did so. After several seconds, he stood. "Where have you been? We've been looking all over for you since yesterday!"

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other. _Yesterday?_

"We'll tell you all about it on the way to the hospital." Dipper said, wincing.

"Dude, you don't look so good." Soos said.

He came over and picked Dipper up.

Tate put his father down. "Dad, your arm! What happened?"

"Well, son, it got broke." McGucket said with a chuckle. "Like th' kid's said, we'll tell you all about it on the way."

On the way back to the Shack, Dipper, Mabel, and Dr. McGucket tried to explain to Soos and Tate what had happened to them over the last twenty-four hours.

"Whoa, dude—you met _aliens_?" Soos exclaimed.

"Well, they weren't all aliens." Mabel said. "The leader of the group was this really good looking—"

"—human." Dipper finished, before Mabel got too much into her explanation. After that he shut his eyes tight and groaned.

"Okay, dude, in you go." Soos said as they got to his truck. The twenty-three year old put Dipper in the front seat and buckled him in. Mabel climbed in beside her brother.

"We'll meet you at the hospital!" Tate called from the door of his own truck. Dr. McGucket was already in the passenger's seat.

Soos nodded to him, got in his own truck and headed down the road.

Once at the hospital, Dipper and Mabel told the attendants that they and Dr. McGucket had been in a "ship" that crashed. They were rather shocked when the woman checking them in said,

"Oh, you don't mean that spaceship that crashed in the lake? "

Mabel's eyes went wide. "You know about that?"

"Oh, of course, dear. Ever since that weird apocalypse thing last summer, nothing surprises people in Gravity Falls. People have been talking about the crash all morning!"

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other. They shouldn't have been surprised—and now the Society of the Blind Eye had been disbanded…

"Hm. Guess now that that little group I started ain't together no more, folks remember the stuff they see." McGucket said in a low tone, glancing at Dipper. Dipper grinned back.

Minutes later, nurses had whisked Dipper and McGucket off to different areas of the hospital to take care of their different needs. About forty-five minutes after that, Soos and Mabel were shown to the room where Dipper was.

Mabel looked up at the doctor when she saw her brother in bed. "He has to stay here? "

The woman smiled down at her. "Just overnight, honey. Your friend has a concussion, and we just want to keep him for observation."

Mabel grinned. "He is my friend—but he's my _twin_ brother. "

Dipper blushed.

The doctor looked from Dipper to Mabel. "I should have guessed. Well, I am needing to check on other patients –"

"So can I stay with my brother? "

"I don't think that will be allowed. "

Mabel looked downcast.

"No worries, Mabel." Soos said. "You'll be with me and Melody – and we'll get you here first thing in the morning. "

Just then out in the hall they heard—

"Sir—sir, I'm going to have to ask you to wait until that dries—"

"Oh, pshaw, it's dryin' out already. I'm goin' t' see how my friend is, Miss."

Dipper and Mabel grinned at each other, and looked up to see Dr. McGucket in the doorway.


	16. Chapter 16-Finale

"Doctor McGucket, how's your arm?" Soos asked.

"Ah, it'll be fine." McGucket said, waving a hand. "Now—"the older man looked Dipper in the eye- "How are _you_ feelin'? "

"Okay, I guess. " Dipper said, blinking slowly. "I have to stay here all night. "

"Eh—that's okay, son. They just want t' keep an eye on ya t' make sure there's nothin' that got knocked loose in there. "

Tate came in just then. "Dad—why'd you leave the—oh—" McGucket's son grinned gently when he saw Dipper. "How are you feeling, Dipper? "

"Better, thank you. "

"Excuse me."

They all turned to see a nurse at the door. "This young man needs his rest. The doctor will want to do a test, soon. "

Mabel frowned and looked at the floor.

"It's okay, Mabel." Dipper assured her. "Maybe you can get together with Candy and Grenda and have one of your—"-he made a face—"—sleepovers. "

His sister grinned weakly. "Yeah. "

Tate placed a hand on his father's shoulder. "Come on, Dad. I need to get you home. You need some rest, too."

McGucket rolled his eyes, but there was still a sparkle in them. "Oh, all right. " Looking at the twins he said, "I'll be seein' you two tomorrow. "

As Tate guided his father out the door, Mabel pursed her lips, then called out, "See you later, Grunkle Fidds!"

Dipper grinned and followed her lead. "Take care of your arm, Great Uncle Fiddleford. "

The old man stopped and looked over his shoulder at them. Mabel thought she saw a tear in his eye. "I will, Dipper. I look forward to seeing you both t'morrow. "


End file.
